Grate



UNITED STATES PATENT OEEicEo LEMUEL BANNISTER, 0F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

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GRATE.

SPECIFICATION forming part .of Letters Patent No. 272,937, dated February l27, 1883.

Application filed December 16, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, LEMUEL BANNIs'rER, of the city of Philadelphia and county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented Improvements in Grates, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in grates for locomotive and other furnaces; and it consists in constructing, arranging, and operating the grate-bars, as fully described hereinafter, so as to secure a better supply of' air to thc fire, facilitate the raking and dumping of' the fire, and remedy defects incident to the ordinary constructions.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of' a locomotive-grate and part of' the ca b, illustrating my invention. Fig. 2 is aplan view, and Fig. 3 is a transverse section.

A is the frame of the grate, of any suitable construction, with circular sockets a at one side, to receive the journals of the bars B 4at one end of the latter, and with open sockets e at the opposite side, into which the journals at the other ends of the bars may be slipped after the other journals have entered the sockets a. The rocking bars are thus held in place vertically without the usual cap-pieces. Eachbar. (of any suitable shape in cross-section) has a series of fingers, b, projecting from one side, and a series of fingers, b', alternating with the fingers b, on the opposite side, and these fingers, instead of being solid, as usual, are per forated, so that the air can pass up through the same, thereby preventing the burning away of the ends of' the lingers, apt to occur whenwthe same are solid. The fire is also more plentifully supplied with air and a more perfect combustion secured. With the usual stationary bars having open lugs the latter merely afford greater supporting-surface and secure a better supply of air throughout the body of the fire; but rocking grate bars are frequently left in a tilted position, with the lugs projecting into the body of the fire, in which case they soon burn or melt oft'. By perforating such lugs a iiow of airis secured through them when the bars are tilted, and this injury rcferred to is prevented. There is therefore a new purpose and new result over a stationary bar, the lugs of which are never embedded in the fire. Heretof'ore it has been common to rock the bars by a connecting-rod, C, attached to arms D, which are directly below the end lfingers, and the latter are close to the frame. If these end fingers of the bars were of' the Same length as the others, they would limit the play of the bars by the linger of one bar being struck by the arm D of the adjacentbar when the bars are tilted. To prevent this, these end fingers are shortened, and upon each bar, opposite the short finger of the opposite bar, is a lug, c, which occupies the space that would otherwise result, and supports the fire. rIhe fingers, instead of being straight at their outer ends, are curved, so that when rocked they will at all times be the same distance from the opposite bar, and they are made Widest at the outer' ends, so that when the bar is turned and the fingers tilted they will not be lifted away from the opposite bar and permit ashes to pass through. The wide ends of the perforated lingers, when turned downward, as shown in Fig. 1, serve, in locomotives, to catch and deflect the air, causing upward currents, which not only increase the draft, but, further, being discharged upward, cause a current to pass through the perforated lugs, which are turned up into the fire and prevent the burning away of the same.

It is customary to form an opening for the discharge of ashes from the iire-pot by droppingoneofthebars,which, beeoiningembedded in the ashes, is difficult to lift. This plan is also objectionable f'or locomotives. l avoid this by so arranging one of' the bars that it may be rotated to lift its fingers up above the level `of the bed, and thereby form the desired opening. Such bar may be at any point, but is preferably arranged at one endl ofthe grate. As shown, such bar B is :it the rea-r end, and is like the others upon the side adjaceutto the next bar, but has noiiugers opposite the frame; and the journals b may be central, but are preferably nearer the rear side, so that when said bar is turned it will swing away from the adjacent bar and leave a wide space to which the ashes may be directed. Such bar may be turned by prolonging one of the journals and providing it with a handle outside the furnace. I prefer, however to use a device operative from the front of the furnacefor instance, a bell-crank lever, H, pivoted to the IOO ,below a horizontal position.

frame, one arm extending below the end finger l ofthe har B, and the other attached to a connecting-rod, L extending to an operating-lever, J, at the front of the furnace, heingin the cab of' the locomotive in this instance. The lever J', for rocking the grate-bars, is also arranged to extend up through the tloor of the cab. By vibrating theiever J thc har B may be agitated to rake the fire, or turned to lering,` its lingers to an inclined or vertical positicn to discharge the contents ofthe fire-pot.

A stop, d, prevents the har from turning` There may be a siinilar bar at the iront end of the grate; or permanent lingers may be formed on the frame A.

l claim- 1 The combination, in a grate, of rocking bars having arms c, lateral ngers with Wide cur-ved ends, the end finger ot' each har heling,` shorter than the others, and with a lug on each bar opposite the short linger of the other har, as specified.

2. The combination, in a grate, of a series of .connected rocking bars having lateral lingers,

and an independent end har having lingers on the grate side only, and appliances, as herein described, for turning said end bar to carry its fingers to an inclined or vertical position,snb stantially as set forth.

3. The combination, in a grate, of aseries of grate-bars having,` alternating` lugs, each lug widened at the end and perforated, whereby the downWardly-proiecting lugs detlect the air and cause it to liow up and pass a current through the lugs that are in the lire, as set forth.

ln testimony whereofl have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two suhscrihing' Witnesses.

LEM UEL BANNISTER.

Witnesses:

CHARLES E. HENRY, RoB'r. 1i. BROOKE. 

